Hidden Feelings
by Camptakotaff
Summary: An alternative storyline to Camp Takota. What happens when Allison makes her feelings known to her old friend? Does Elise reciprocate these feelings, or has she cast her eye on someone else? Ellison storyline, rated M for future chapters. Please leave a review, let me know if you have any suggestions on how the story should continue. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

Ok... Ok yes, I'm publishing it. Sorry, ignore me. Just typing out my own internal struggle.

This is chapter 1 of my story, currently entitled "Hidden Feelings". This may change, depending on where I take the story.

It's a little different written in the first person, and excuse me if I slip into the present tense for a sentence or two, I found myself doing that as I wrote it, I may not have noticed here and there.

Please review, it would mean the world to me!

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Chapter 1

I couldn't quite believe the turn my life had taken, as I sat in the backseat of the car, listening to this awful woman I had barely just met blabbing on about how great her life and marriage were, whilst somehow at the same time screaming at her husband for driving too slowly along the highway.

I had no idea what was in store for me as I looked out of the back window of the Fefferman family's car as we arrived at camp. The journey there had passed far too slowly, and all I knew was that I needed to get away from this dreadful woman as quickly as possible.

Stepping out into the fresh air, the sun blinded me for a brief moment. The inside of the car had been dingy with darkened windows blocking any light from entering.

"Elise! Oh my God the rumours were trumers!" It was Maxine, my best friend from many years before, but I recognised her instantly as she came running up to the car.

"Hey Max, it's great to see you! What are you still doing here?" A look of confusion flashed onto her face.

"Of course I'm still here El, you know how much this place means to me! Now your beautiful face has shown up again, it's just perfect! We are going to have a lot of fun this summer."

"I don't doubt that for a second." I lied. I was glad to see my best friend from childhood after so many years, but I had changed so much since last stepping foot in this place. If only I'd have kept my drunken mouth shut the previous evening instead of picking up the phone, I would be able to wallow in my sorrow with more dignity. Maxine grabbed me tightly and hugged me, squeezing the air out of my lungs. I patted her on the back, which was as much of an enthusiastic greeting as I could muster.

"So, how do you keep yourself busy all year round, you don't live here do you?" I asked Maxine, after she had turned to greet the Feffermans, and picked up some of my bags for me. I stooped down to help her carry them, and we set off for the councelor's cabins.

"No, unfortunately not. I teach fourth grade in the South loop."

"You live in Chicago? Seriously? How come I never see you around?"

"I keep myself to myself. I prefer my own company when in the city, can't stand most of those money grabbing go-getters that live there." She stopped herself after glancing at my attire, as I was still sporting my suit jacket from my disastrous day at the office before.

"Never mind me missy, what brings you to these neck of the woods? Why now?" She looked at me, studying the expression on my face.

"Oh, why not? I mean, I love this place too, and really I need a bit of a break for the summer, my life is just so busy right now." I smiled, but the worried expression remained on her face.

"You've not been back for nearly a decade Elise, no phone calls, no Facebook requests. You just show up one day, as if it's completely normal."

"It is, honestly Max, I bumped into Sally, and it got me thinking about camp, and how much I missed it. I have my life together now, I'm taking a well deserved break!"

"Fair enough, I'm not prying... except I am! What is this life you talk of, where you have all of your shit together? Tell me about it!" I could tell she was trying to lighten the mood, after my last response was a bit heated.

"Well, I'm in publishing. I recently got a book deal!" I put all my efforts into making my words sound less painful than they felt.

"Elise! That's great, I'm so proud of you! Who would have thought, you, a big shot writer. I should get your autograph!" Maxine joked, and I laughed tiredly with her, not quite knowing how to reply.

"So here's your cabin!" We stopped outside the nearest of the counselor's cabins, still decorated identically to how I remembered it from years before.

"Good to see nothings changed." I said quietly.

"I know, it's great isn't it!" Said Maxine cheerfully, not detecting the dull tone in my voice. "Allison wanted to give them all a fresh lick of paint before the kids got here but, we really haven't had time since we arrived here."

Upon the mention of Allison's name, my heart skipped a beat. I had not thought about Allison in so long, and suddenly the image of her face flashed through my mind.

"Allison? You mean to say Allison still comes here?"

"Of course, she runs the kitchens now. Her mom retired to Boca Raton a few years ago, and she took her place."

"How... how is she doing?" I tried to sound casual.

"As well as ever, still cracking the jokes of course, bless her soul. We really would struggle without her here, she's a blessing."

"Yeah, I'm sure." I stared off at the window of the cabin, lost in my own thoughts.

"Well, I'll just leave your bags right here, and let you get settled in! I'll be in or around the office if you need me."

"Sure, thanks Max."

"Aww, it really is great to see you!" She hugged me again, and I hugged her tentatively back. As she walked away from me, I slowly trundled up the steps to my cabin with the largest of my bags.

Allison Henry had been a friend of mine all through my teenage years, but it had been so long since I had last seen her. We had planned to stay in touch after my last day at camp, but I had gone off to college, and she had stated she needed to sort her life out before embarking on anything so final such as college, so we never got the opportunity.

Allison was a very close friend, you might say. Not only did I tell her my deepest and darkest secrets, but she was, to use a more sensitive term, a great stress reliever after spending so much time at an all girls camp. She knew how to make me feel good, and whether it was making out in the woods near the mess hall as young teenagers, or something more in her bunk at robins egg when we would sneak away from our daily activities as we got older, I'm pretty sure I made her feel good too. She was beautiful and funny, and I really liked her. Only as I got older had I developed feelings for guys, but she would always be my first.

The cabin was dimly lit by a single bulb that hung from the ceiling. I opened the curtains, and emptied my bags out onto my bed. As I began filling the drawers with the mismatched clothes I had thrown together last minute, I couldn't shift Allison out of my head. It's as if I had forgotten about her for so long, that my mind was aching to be filled with her. I shook my head, and decided I needed to reacclimatise with the place before the chaos of preparing for the arrival of the kids began.

I walked down to the lake, to the exact spot on the rivers edge where I'd had my first camp out. This place was special to me not only because of this, but because the night before this, I had my first kiss. It was stupid, I was only about ten, but I felt old to have never kissed anyone before. Allison and I were sat alone, hiding from our good, yet overbearing friend Maxine. She and I were discussing what we wanted to do before we grew up. I said I didn't want to grow up without being kissed by someone who loves me. And she just did it, leaned across and kissed me hard on the lips. We both giggled, and I said I loved her too. We were both joking, but as we got older I began to question whether I did love her. I didn't of course, it was ridiculous, we were just kids.

I then walked down to the jetty, where we used to jump in the water and go swimming. The three of us spent so much time in the water racing to the buoy in the middle of the lake and back. We weren't meant to go out that far, but we thought we were such rebellious teenagers that it was cool to risk potential drowning. Allison was the fastest, every time. She was built like a swimmer, with powerful arms. I was a weedy kid, with long clumsy legs, definitely not a swimmer. Poor Maxine, she couldn't even make it out to the middle of the lake, she would get tired and turn around. It was all good fun though, and apart from inflating Allison's ego, it never did us any harm.

I made my way up to the mess hall where we all used to eat our meals everyday. The three of us would sneak into the kitchens in the middle of the night, and steal any snacks we could, usually just handfuls of marshmallows meant for roasting over campfires. I suppose Allison keeps all the snacks locked away now she's in charge, knowing how easy it was for us to sneak in whenever we fancied.

"Hey stranger." Her chirpy voice caused me to spin around too suddenly and crick my neck.

"Ouch! Hey." I said, grabbing onto the side of my neck.

"Careful there. Still as clumsy as ever I see!"

"Allison, I've missed you." I said this calmly, looking into her bright blue eyes. She smiled at me, that familiar, cheesy smile that caused my stomach to turn.

"I missed you too, you've not changed a bit, except... Have you got even taller?!"

"Haha no, I think you've shrunk!" I laugh, rubbing my neck.

"It's good to see you." She rushes to me and flings her arms around me. I hug her around her waist, and stand up, lifting her feet off the ground. She laughs again, and rests her chin on my shoulder, and I feel her inhale deeply. We hug for a moment longer than we should have, but I finally lower her down, and step away from her.

"So I hear you run the kitchen now?"

"Yeah, well my mom retired, and I promised her I would carry on her fantastic recipes. Anyway, I couldn't let Maxine down, she and Sally would struggle to find anyone willing to single-handedly cater for a camp this size."

"I'm sure, wow, how do you manage?"

"I don't know, I just keep ploughing on. I'm used to my own company, I let my mind wander. It passes the time."

"Well, now I'm here for the summer, I could always lend you a hand."

"Elise." She stepped closer to me once again. Her eyes bore into mine, her stare so intense I looked at the ground after a few seconds. "Where have you been? I didn't have a number for you after you went to college, and then I found you on Facebook but I didn't contact you because you hadn't tried to contact me for so long. What happened?"

"Life happened, Allison. I didn't mean to lose contact with you, but I got so busy, my life was happening so quickly, I didn't realise what I'd left behind. Seeing you and Maxine today reminded me what an idiot I was to stay away for so long. I got a great job, and a great boyfriend, and I got engaged, I became a different person."

"You got engaged? Congratulations." She seemed happy for me, but her mouth flickered after she spoke.

"Thank you." I didn't want to be truthful right now, not after that ridiculous nonsense I'd just come out with. The real truth was I didn't really know why I was running away from Allison, possibly because I wanted to forget the feelings I'd had for her, really it wasn't what I wanted in my life. She made me happy, but I was convinced it wasn't true happiness.

"How about you then, no significant other?" I quickly tried to change the subject, but Allison shrugged it off.

"My cooking is my significant other, I don't have time for relationships. I don't really get out much, meeting new people definitely isn't a priority for me."

"Oh well, maybe you and I could go out and meet some guys at the end of the summer, you could come out with me to Chicago."

"Ah well, meeting guys is definitely low on my priority list, if you see what I mean." She looked up from the ground at me, smirking.

"Oh shit, sorry, I mean, we could meet women then, no biggie..." She laughed at me, and I laughed nervously back. Of course, she's a lesbian.

"You didn't think I'd turn out straight after all those summers activities we spent together, did you?"

"Oh those, well, I'm straight, so I just assumed."

"Glad to see I made an impression on you." It was light hearted sarcasm, but she still seemed a little bit hurt.

"Allison, you meant the world to me, I never lied about that. The feelings I had for you were real but all that's over now. I was experimenting, nothing more."

"No Elise, it's fine. We were young, it was a teenage fling. No biggie." She punched my arm playfully, and I hugged her again. We were interrupted by Maxine who came out of the mess hall.

"Reunited I see?" She hugged us both and the three of us stood there with our arms around each other. "I say we celebrate this reunion with drinks, before responsibilities begin tomorrow. How about 8 o clock, my cabin?"

"Sounds great, we can have a catch up."

"I'm in."


	2. Chapter 2

Here is chapter 2. As I said before, I know it's written in an unconventional style, but I'm new to this whole writing thing, and it's what felt most comfortable.

Please review, hope you enjoy!

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Chapter 2

Maxine had the second largest of the dozen councelors cabins, of course, second only to Sally's. We sat in her living room around the fireplace roasting marshmallows, just as we did as kids, but this time we had shots of tequila lining he floor around us.

"So, Elise, tell us about this fiancée then." Maxine wriggled like an excited schoolgirl.

"He's great. I met him at a bar two years ago. He works for a big insurance firm, very successful. And he was Ivy League. Really I don't deserve him."

"But if he's so great..." Allison hesitated, choosing her words carefully, " why are you spending the whole summer away from him?"

"He's working all summer, and I'm taking a break because of my book deal, so I thought it would do us both good to have some space before the wedding."

"When are you getting married?"

"In... September."

"Sally told us you were getting married in two weeks though."

"Yeah well, we postponed it."

"Why?"

"OKAY! Okay fine, enough of the questions!" I snapped, not knowing whether they were questioning me out of excitement, or suspicion, but I had a feeling it was the latter.

"Elise, I know you feel like you've changed, and you're this different person now, but really, you think your best friends can't tell when you're lying?" I looked at Maxine as she said this and across to Allison, who was looking at me with those bright blue eyes that read me like a book.

I panicked. I didn't want to tell them at all, never mind on the first day of meeting them again. A single tear fell down my cheek as I was unable to reply in any way to Maxine.

"It's okay Elise, we aren't here to judge you. Time for the truth?" My eyes flicked between the two of them, and they looked at me, imploring me to go on.

"I lost my job, my boss fired me because I accidentally leaked the photos of her and Walker Paige making out in the stair well of the offices, which also ruined my chances of her reading my book I'd just handed in to her that morning," it was all spilling out of me like word vomit, "and then I packed up my stuff and went home, and found my fiancée half dressed in the kitchen, pouring two glasses of water for him and Vanessa who he'd just... fucked in our bed! So I went back to my old apartment and I got drunk, and rang Sally, told her I was coming to camp, so here I am! Are you happy now? Now you know the truth, what a complete and utter loser I am!"

As more tears flowed down my cheeks, both girls crawled over to me, spilling shots as they did so, and wrapped their arms around me.

"Elise, we're so sorry!"

"I didn't know it was so bad."

"Yeah well now you do. You know, my life was a complete and utter lie. I was living with a man who was far too good for me, doing a job which I hated, writing a book which is a load of crap about a teenage romance between a lock ness monster disguised as a boy, and a female centaur."

"Sounds atrocious, a love story with the lock ness monster. Surely that one should be locked away for no one to see... get it?"

"Yeah great Allison," Maxine interjected, "it's all for the best, Elise, now you can start fresh, you can get a job you like, meet someone you want to spend the rest of your life with, it'll all work out!"

"I thought I wanted to spend my life with Jeff, and look how that's turned out! I loved him!"

"Did you? You found him cheating on you yesterday, but you don't seem too concerned about it."

"I am, well, I'm angry at him! He humiliated me, now the wedding will have to be called off, and I'm going to have to explain to all my family what happened!"

"Elise, you just lost the love of your life, and the biggest thing you're worried about is telling your family. Forgive me but, I don't think you loved him as much as you think you did." As Allison said this, I realised she was right. I was kidding myself.

"You shouldn't have to change to make someone else like you Elise, you're great as you are."

"That's sweet Max..."

"No, seriously Elise. We loved the old you, not this uptight, fake successful big shot you've made yourself into. I think you should use this summer to find yourself, and find what you really want to do for the rest of your life."

"You guys are the best. I will take your advice into consideration. Now, can we get back to roasting marshmallows, this is all too much emotion at once."

"Okay little miss robot, not that much has changed I see. Pass me the bag, don't hog them all to yourselves!"

We sat drinking into the night. After numerous tales of our lives over the past few years, theirs considerably more interesting than mine, we all settled down on the sofa. Maxine had passed out, slumped over the wooden arm of the sofa, breathing heavily. Allison and I sat, now clutching bottles of beer, reminiscing our childhood. Allison was very drunk.

"Remember the swim races in the lake? I was awesome at those!"

"Yeah Al, you beat us every time, how could I forget? Remember scary stories around the camp fire about the ghost who was attracted to the flames?"

"Yeah but, the only one who got scared was Max! She made us sleep either side of her so the ghost would get us first."

"Oh god I remember that! How about when we used to hide from her when she wanted us to dress up with her to join in with fancy dress raft racing?"

"She found us once, and she slapped me round the face! We didn't speak for a week!" Allison rubbed her cheek, as if it still hurt.

"She barely touched you! Those were fun days, weren't they?"

"They were the best. I don't think we'll ever have as much fun again, I lived for those summers."

"I thought I was living the best days of my life up until yesterday but... I guess that I was wrong."

"You deserve so much better El, I wish you hadn't spent so much time away from us."

"Maybe deep down I knew the truth, and I was too scared to come back, because you'd judge the life I was living."

"Wow, you're deep when you're drunk. I'm literally drowning in emotion here!"

"And your puns get so much worse, not that that seems possible." She laughed, and for a brief moment, I wanted to bring up other memories that flooded into my mind, memories of just the two of us. The most special memories of my youth, spent with the girl sat right in front of me. I didn't want to make it awkward, so I swallowed my words.

"I'm so glad you're here. I know I keep saying it, but I still can't quite believe it's you!"

"Believe it girl, I'm back."

She hesitated, and slurred on her words as she said, "you're even more beautiful than I remember."

"Same back to you, Allison, you are even more adorable than I remember."

"No, you don't understand." She shook her head, the alcohol seemed to have suddenly affected her. "I don't remember your face being that perfect."

"Girl, those beer goggles really are working for you, aren't they?" I laughed, but Allison didn't seem to get the joke. She just smiled, confused, then tried to stand up.

"I'm tired, I wanna go to bed." As she rose from the couch, she stumbled a bit before falling back onto the couch next to me. I got up and lifted her from under her arms, supporting her full weight as she stood up.

"I think you'd better lie down in Maxine's bed tonight, you're too drunk to make it to your own cabin!"

"Mmm lie down with me Elise." She whispered in my ear as I dragged her over to the bed.

"Now, I'm going back to my own cabin, but thank you for the offer." I lay her down, and she frowned up at me before settling.

"Night." She said, looking up at me.

"Night." I leant down, and kissed her forehead. She smiled, before closing her eyes. I wandered carefully over to Maxine, feeling the effects of the alcohol myself as I tried to steady my feet. She was fast asleep, snoring gently. I took the empty bottle from her hands and put it on the table. Thinking ahead, I set her alarm so it would wait the two of them up in time for the kids arrival. Making my way out of the cabin, I found the way to my own cabin door, and closing the door behind me, I fell onto the bed, sleep overcoming me almost instantly.


	3. Chapter 3

Here is chapter 3, and I realised whilst writing this, I wrote Mamrie instead of Maxine about three times! I must be getting tired!

enjoy, please review!

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Chapter 3

I woke up to a banging in my head. At least that's what it felt like, but after a few moments I realised someone was thumping at the cabin door.

"Elise! Elise get up! The kids will start arriving in an hour!"

"Okay Max, I'm awake!" I roll out of bed, and crawl on all floors into the bathroom. Using the sink to pull myself up, I look into the mirror at my pale face, with bags under my eyes.

"Hurry!" I hear Maxine still at my front door, before she rushes off down the steps.

After a quick shower, I put on a pair of shorts and a camp Takota T-shirt which had been waiting for me on my bed the day before, and I headed out of the door. It was a sunny day, much to my dismay, as I squinted into the distance I saw Maxine rushing round, making sure everything was in place in time.

"Hey Elise!" She waved at me across the grass, and ran over.

"How are you so awake?" I questioned her, as she grinned at me.

"Caffeine and adrenaline my friend, it's drop off day! Now, everything's in place, Chet is helping the other councelors with registration, all I need you to do is meet Sally at the main stage and make sure the last of the banners are up, she could probably do with your height advantage. Thank you for setting my alarm last night by the way, I assume it was you, it would have been a disaster if I overslept!" She patted me on the back before she rushed off to see if the others were getting on with their jobs.

Seeing the main stage again was nostalgic, memories of performing various dance routines made up by Maxine can rushing back to me. Sally smiled as I made my way over to her.

"Hi sweetie. Mind giving me a hand?"

"Not at all. Sorry about changing my mind so suddenly about coming here Sally, I just had a bit of a disaster, and I needed to get out of the city."

"Honey, it's none of my business why you're here, but I'm so glad you are. I missed you, I miss all my girls that don't stay in touch. I assume Maxine told you it's my last year here at Takota?"

"She mentioned it, are you planning on retiring fully?"

"I think I want to go travelling, I always fancied going to Europe! I won't be able to stay away too long though, I'll always be back to visit. This place will be in good hands with Maxine, she runs a tight ship. Really I'm handing it over to her this year."

"I think it will be in safe hands."

"Yes dear, I agree." She patted me on the back, before reaching for a banner to hang.

Helping Sally hang the rest of the banners took very little time, which was fortunate as the first of the kids were arriving.

"It's time people, it's time." Maxine's voice rang over the various walkie talkies that had just been handed out to each of the councelors.

As kids flooded the area around the main stage after they had registered and dropped off their bags in the cabins, Sally took to the stage to welcome them all. There seemed like less kids than there were when we were campers, but I figured a whole summer in the country may not appeal to the younger generation of the day.

"Now we all know camp rules, but we need to talk about the camp rules!" As Maxine took to the stage, Allison carried a huge boom box on her shoulder, blasting Maxine's backing track as she rapped about the kids making their bunk, not staying up past ten pm, and no sneaking out past hours. I smirked up at Allison, who caught my eye and smirked back. There were no rules when we were at camp, well, none that we stuck to anyway.

The kids settled in well on the first day, but it was so hectic in the mess hall that I put on an apron to lend Allison a hand.

"Can you chop those potatoes into cubes?"

"Sure, these ones?"

"Yeah but use a sharper knife!"

"Where's a sharper knife?!"

"In the knife drawer!"

By the time all the kids had been fed, they dispersed out to their cabins for an early night. Allison collapsed into a chair in the corner of the kitchen, glaring at the pile of dishes she needed to clean.

"I forgot how stressful this was."

"I'm here to help, let me do some dishes."

As we washed up, we had another heart to heart.

"Sorry about last night, I got a little... forward."

"You were drunk, I don't mind! Anyway, it was flattering."

"... what did I say?"

I laughed at her confused expression, she looked at me and unfurrowed her brow. "I can remember whispering in your ear to get into bed with me, but it's all a bit fizzy!"

"You told me my face was beautiful, even more perfect than you remembered!" I mimicked the way she'd said it, slurring my words.

"Oh god, sorry. It all comes out when you're drunk."

"You really think my face is perfect?"

"Have you looked in a mirror recently?"

"Flatterer!" I nudged her playfully, and she flicked soap at me.

"Listen, we've been missing some eye candy from this camp for a number of years, don't blame me for being so forward."

"Oh I see, there have been other women here that have caught your eye?"

"I seem to remember the last woman that caught my eye was a younger version of you."

"Oh please, you're making me blush."

It was flirting. I couldn't quite believe it, but I was flirting with Allison. It felt so natural, and easy. I wanted to quickly change the subject, but a small part of me wanted to rip her clothes of and have her right there on the kitchen counter. I shook my head, alarmed at the sudden image that had entered my head.

"We should get this done, or we'll be here until breakfast." Allison seemed to have read my mind, as I was about to say something very similar. We washed dishes at lightning speed, Allison stacking them next to her ready for use the next day.

We finished in good time, and Allison yawned obviously.

"I'm beat, time for bed I think. See you tomorrow kid." She rubbed my arm before heading towards the door.

"Night Allison." I called after her, and she winked back at me as she headed out the door.

"Sleep tight." I said after she'd closed the door behind her. I had tingles in my stomach and my head was spinning slightly. I felt like a young girl again, anticipating meeting up with Allison under the cover of darkness in the nearby woods, where our desire to explore each other outweighed our desire to explore our surroundings. The purely physical relationship we had shared remained a secret between the two of us, a secret very easy to keep purely because that's all it was. There was no strong emotional attraction whatsoever. What I felt stood there, staring at the door she had just exited, was different.

I realised as I stood there, I was falling for her. Falling for her charm, and her understated beauty. She wasn't tall, nor did she have flowing hair and beautiful clothes. She was short and relatively stocky, with sleeveless shirts and boy shorts, a bandana around her head to hold back her scruffy hair. She was, as I decided, stunning. And what I was going to do about it, I had no idea.

As I lay in bed, I dreamt of her. It was a particularly vivid dream, involving just the two of us. We were in the kitchen, play fighting, throwing bubbles at each other until we were soaking wet, and we kissed, rubbing each other with soap all over. My dream was interrupted by the trumpet sounds being played through the ancient loudspeaker attached to the main office. As I stumbled out of bed I realised that dream may indeed have been a sick metaphor, representing my real desires of what I wanted to do with her.

Later that day, I was in charge of a class of younger campers, and we were pressing flowers to turn them into bookmarks.

"Okay girls, you have to choose a flower from the ones we picked yesterday, and place it in your book."

Suddenly, the door opened, and a man entered, carrying a basket full of onions.

"Sorry, I was looking for Maxine, you don't know where she is do you?"

"I think she's on the grass by the main office, she's hosting a Katy Perry themed ice cream social. I can go and find her if you like."

"No it's fine, I can make my own way over. I'm... Eli by the way, nice to meet you." He put down his basket of onions, walked over to me and shook my hand.

"It was nice to meet you Eli, I'll see you around?" I enquired, still no idea who this man was.

"Yeah, you will, I'm sure." He smiled at me before clearing his throat. "I'll, let you get back to your class."

"Goodbye!" I said cheerfully as he picked up his basket and left. As I turned back to the girls at the table, they were all grinning at me.

"Elise loves Eli!" The girl nearest to me chimed.

"What?" I said, half listening.

"You love Eli!"

"I don't, I mean, I don't know him!" I saw them all snigger at me.

"Yeah you do, and you love him! You're blushing!" I tried to cover my cheeks with my hands as the kids started to chant.

"Elise and Eli sitting in a tree. K. I. S. S. I. N. G. First comes love, then comes..."

"Shut up!" I screamed loudly.

The craft hut door flung open, Allison on the other side.

"Are you ok? I was just walking past and I heard shouting?"

"Elise loves Eli!" One of the girls shrieked, but shrunk into her chair as I swivelled round to glare at her.

"Class dismissed, go and press flowers in your own time!" I yelled, waving my hands. They all scuttled out of the door clutching their flowers, apparently pleased with themselves

"What was that about?" Allison enquired, sitting down next to Elise.

"Some guy came in looking for Maxine, we spoke for a minute, but the kids seemed to think I had a thing for him."

"Who, Eli? I wouldn't blame you, he's cute!"

"You're a lesbian!"

"Look, just because I'm a lesbian, doesn't mean I can't appreciate a beautiful man. He's cute, no?"

"Yeah he was cute. Not my type though. Who is he?"

"He runs the local farm, he delivers fresh produce to the office for a fraction of the price it should be. He's a great guy, we would be able to feed the kids this well if it wasn't for him."

"That's nice of him."

"Don't let the kids wind you up. They're little boogers, they'll take any opportunity to wind up the councelors. Remember what we used to do?"

"We put a rotting dead fish in our least favourite councillors bed, and replaced her toothpaste with vagisil. Of course I remember."

"Well, keep an eye out for them, they're just as sneaky as we were! I've got to get back to work. You'd better go and round up those kids, if Maxine sees you've let a class go early, she'll flip."

"See you around."

"Yeah you will." She winked again as she left, leaving me with that familiar tingling feeling in my stomach.


	4. Chapter 4

Here's chapter 4! It's my favourite chapter I've written so far, you'll hopefully see why!

enjoy, leave me a review please, positive or negative, I'd love to see your opinion.

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Chapter 4

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. Maxine went crazy at a kid who was lactose intolerant at her ice cream social, after she ate four ice creams. Poor Maxine had to stay in the welfare tent toilets with her all evening because she made herself so ill. After helping Allison at dinner time once more, I retired to my cabin to go to bed early. I had barely got in bed when there was a knock at the door.

"Elise?"

"Allison? What are you doing up at this time?"

"It's only 9pm Elise. Can I come in?"

"Yeah sure."

Allison came in, and seeing that I was under my covers already, she came and sat on the end of her bed.

"I was lonely, I wanted to come and see you."

"I thought you were used to your own company."

"Yes well, not many people's company is worth sharing."

"And mine is? I'm flattered, once again."

"Elise, I want to talk to you about something."

I swallowed, fearing what was coming next.

"Sure, that's fine, go ahead."

"What would you say if I told you... I liked you."

"I like you too Allison, you're my friend." I knew that wasn't what she meant, but I foolishly thought I could steer the conversation in a different direction.

"No Elise, don't pull that one. Don't tell me you couldn't tell, you must be blind if you can't."

"Allison, I don't want to do this."

"I have to get it out in the open! I want to know if I'm wasting my time with you!"

"Seriously Allison, please, I can't have this conversation."

"Just let me down then. I don't mind, it's what I'm expecting. I had to try."

"I don't want to."

"Then, does that mean you like me back?"

"I don't want this Allison!"

"You know what Elise!" Allison stood up off my bed, and walked towards my door. "I just put myself out there for you, and it took a lot of courage. All I asked for in return was an answer, and you've just thrown it back in my face, making me feel like an idiot!"

"Allison, I didn't mean to..."

"Yeah well, you did. So I hope you're happy Elise, your cowardice has made me feel like shit. Don't come and speak to me until you can have a proper conversation with me." With that, she slammed the door behind her, leaving my ears ringing.

I felt wounded, anger and guilt bubbled up inside of me, my own thoughts contradicting each other.

"How dare she come in here, expecting me to be able to answer that?" I spoke to myself, trying to figure out a reasonable conclusion. "She made me feel like shit, how could she expect me to reciprocate any sort of feelings for her. I've only known her for a few days..."

I stopped myself. I had known Allison since we were eight years old, she was one of my best friends. The guilt of forgetting about her for so long made me well up. She spent all that time alone in that kitchen, with her own thoughts.

"Over all these years, how long has she spent thinking about me?" Expecting an answer out of the approaching darkness, none came. I lay down, hugging my pillow. Tears dripped down my cheeks, soaking into the clean white linen. I had the urge to run out after her, and apologise, but I couldn't move from out of my bed.

"She was right, I am a coward." The roof of the cabin groaned in the breeze, as if it agreed with me. I drifted off into a troubled sleep, Allison's hurt face filling my mind.

I couldn't bare to face her the next day. I had to skip breakfast so to avoid an awkward encounter. Maxine was dragging the boats out of the shed with Chet when she saw me hanging around outside the mess hall.

"Hey El, come give us a hand!" I rushed over to the boat shed, where Maxine was kneeling down, bright red in the face as she tried to heave a heavy plastic canoe out onto the grass. Chet was in the shed, pushing the boat with all his strength, trying to make it budge.

"I swear they weren't this heavy last year!" Maxine blurts out, using every ounce of her strength.

"You know," I said, leaning against wall, "if you untied it from the other boats it might just become a hell of a lot lighter." I pointed to the thin rope which attached this boat to the other ten or so it was tied to. Maxine collapsed to the ground in despair as Chet stood up and scratched his head.

"I forgot I tied them up."

"Chet, you moron! We just wasted ten minutes trying to shift that and, ow I think I've done my back in." I helped her get off the floor and she stood up, clutching her lower back.

"Here, I'll give you a hand." As Chet untied the rope, I pulled the boats out one by one until they all were lined up on the grass.

"There you go."

"You, are an angel!" She then shook her head at Chet, before patting me on the back.

"Go and get Allison for me, would you?"

"Oh, she's real busy, I think I'd better leave her for now."

"It's ok, the other councelors are there helping today, she's positively slacking!" Maxine smiled at herself. "No but seriously, I need her muscles to heave these things into the water, she's the only one that can help you get them in. By the look of Chet, he's finished."

I looked at her, defiantly, and she looked back at me confused.

"I'm going to get her, you wait here. Don't try heaving them in yourself, you'll end up doing your back in like me!" She limped off, and I stood there helpless.

As she headed back with Allison in tow, I noticed Allison kept her eyes staring at the ground. She bent down to grab one end of a boat, and I rushed to grab the other end.

"Well, I'll leave you two to it!" Maxine looked at the both of us, concerned. "Come on Chet!" Chet rushed after her, and they both headed of towards the mess hall.

An awkward silence filled the air as we moved the first few boats into the water, Allison tying them to the jetty.

"Allison?" I said quietly, unable to bare the silence any longer. There was no reply, she just bent down to pick up another boat. "Allison please!"

"I have nothing to say to you." She said it so calmly, it sent chills down my spine.

"I want to say something to you."

"Go on then." Her eyes were icy as she looked up into mine.

"I'm sorry about yesterday, you're right, I'm a coward. It scares me how I can have feelings for you Allison, after all this time."

Her face suddenly changed, as it filled with hope. "You have feelings for me?"

I swallowed, preparing my answer. "Yes, I do. But Allison, you have to understand how difficult this is for me, I can't just define them as easily as you. I have to figure some things out first."

"Okay, I'm sorry for putting pressure on you." We smiled at each other, lifting the last boat into the water.

"Do you want to go for a walk? I have an hour or so before I have to make lunch."

"I'd love that. I mean... I'd like it." I nervously stuttered, making her laugh. Naturally, we wandered up to the woods behind the mess hall, where no campers tended to go because the trees were so dense, and there wasn't much light.

"Remember this spot?" Allison took my hand and led me to a small clearing where the ground was lined with a patch of grass.

"How could I forget? You got my pants off in the middle of the night when we couldn't see a thing."

"Yeah, we came here a lot."

"We sure did." I raised an eyebrow, and Allison laughed, realising what she had just said.

We sat on the grass for a while, this time in a comfortable silence. She took my hand, stroking my fingers, observing me as I observed her.

"Can I kiss you?" She broke the silence, looking at me expectantly.

"You never used to ask permission." I smirked at her.

"I probably should have done. I'm asking now. Can I kiss you?"

"You may." I smiled, and she leapt forward, knocking me backwards so I was lying down and she was leaning over me. She spent a few moments, her face inches away from mine, staring down into my eyes. I stared back up at hers and, taking the sides of my face into her hands her lips touched mine, as she slowly kissed me. She moved so she was straddling me, her mouth moving against mine, savouring every taste. I reciprocated the kiss, slowly still, breathing in her scent. Her tongue brushed past my bottom lip, and smiling against her mouth, I allowed her access. My hands found her back, and I pulled her closer and kissed her harder, my tongue entwining with hers. Familiar feelings of nervousness and joy erupted in my stomach, as we savoured every second. She broke away from me, after I moaned slightly.

"I think this is where I leave you wanting more." She whispered in my ear, as she rolled off me and sat up on the grass next to me. I lay still, my lips still pursed in the positioned she'd left them in.

"I... I don't think this is how it's supposed to go."

"You think I'm gonna take it further with you now, Elise Miller? We haven't figured out our feelings for each other yet, I'm not going to give it all up on our first adventure into the woods."

"I seem to remember both of us gave each other everything pretty quickly during our trips into the woods.

"That was then. We're adults now, we have to deal with feelings and shit." She smiled down at me, before leaning to whisper in my ear.

"Besides, it's in my favour that you remember how good I can make you feel, how much I used to make you beg for more." She bit my earlobe playfully, before getting up and making her way back to camp. I lay there, my heart racing, with a throbbing between my legs, my needs not fully met. She'd done this on purpose, possibly payback, or possibly to reinforce any physical attraction I felt for her. Whatever her motive, it had worked.


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry this chapter took so long to upload, for some reason it wouldn't let me copy and paste it into document manager, and then I got fed up and just left it, etc etc, but I figured it out, so here it is!

Thanks to those few who have left reviews, it means the world to me :)

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Chapter 5

Allison spent the rest of the day in the kitchen, and seen as a few councelors had free schedules for the day, she had plenty of help. I took the opportunity to spend some alone time around camp, to sort my feelings out.

Sat in the trees on the edge of the lake, just as I did those years ago, I wrote in my diary. The other kids used to tease me about keeping a diary, but it was like my comfort blanket when I was away from my parents. As an adult, my diary was useful for storing my thoughts, when I had too many filling my head. Looking down at what I'd written on the page, I smiled. Without paying much attention, I'd written Allison's name over and over again across two pages. Being quite a good drawer, I turned the page and sketched her face, adding in every little detail I loved about her.

Without realising it, I'd spent so long by the lake that it had started to go dark. I'd managed to fill thirty pages of my diary with thoughts about Allison, and how I felt about her, and what she meant to me. I then saw a boat from across the lake, which was heading out towards the jetty. Curious, I got up and walked along the waters edge, to meet whoever was rowing the boat. It was a while before they reached me.

"Hello again," it was Eli, "fancy seeing you here."

"I would say the same, but as you told me earlier, you come here often."

"I saw you from across the lake, I was setting up to do some night fishing. I thought I'd pay you a visit."

"I was just doing a bit of reading," I held the diary behind me so he couldn't see it, "it's nice to spend some time to yourself after spending so much time around the kids."

"I can understand that. So, what brings you to camp? I've never seen you here before."

"I used to come here as a kid. I needed some time out of the city."

"You don't look much like a city girl." I raised my eyebrow at him. "I mean that in a good way!" He corrected himself.

"Yeah well, you didn't see me when I arrived. "

"No but, I think I want to see more of you. You're very pretty." His forward flirting came as a shock to me, and he must have seen my eyes widen.

"Don't get me wrong, I don't say that to many girls! Any, really, not too many women as pretty as you venture out this way."

"That's very sweet." I smiled back at him.

"Do you think you might want to come over to my house across the lake some time? I'm a pretty good cook. I'm sure you're getting tired of all the camp food."

"Not at all, Allison's an excellent cook." And she's the reason I'm not going to take you up on your offer, I thought to myself.

"Please, think about it anyway, I'm here most mornings, delivering more food. Just meet me at the main office at ten thirty tomorrow if you have an answer for me."

"I'll... think about it. Night Eli."

"Night!" He said, calling after me as I turned to head towards the mess hall.

Quickly entering the mess hall, eager to see Allison's face, I rushed into the kitchen where she was serving the kids with the last of the food.

"Good evening," she winked at me, as the last girl in the queue walked off with her tray, "and good timing I might say. Do you want anything to eat?"

"No, I'm not hungry thanks." I was still slightly out of breath from running to see her.

"Where've you been that's got you all hot and bothered?" She asked, whilst turning to start the dishes.

"I just wanted to see you, that's all."

"I'm glad to hear it. I've not seen you all afternoon."

"I've had some alone time, thinking."

"Oh," she turned to look at me "thinking about what?"

I hesitated. I spoke at barely above a whisper.

"You."

"Goddamn Elise, are you trying to kill me?" Allison's seemed pleasantly surprised at my answer though, grinning to herself she turned back to the sink.

The kitchen door opened, and Maxine walked in carrying a pile of dishes. After placing them heavily on the counter next to Allison, she turned to me.

"Hey Elise, I saw you were getting better acquainted with Eli down by the lake just now."

I felt my cheeks flush and my palms grew sweaty.

"He saw me from across the lake, he just wanted to saw hi."

"Mmm I'm sure he did." Maxine winked at me. "In fact, when he came to see me earlier he didn't really stop talking about you, asking all these questions about you. Did he ask you to dinner?"

"Yeah, he did. I don't know though."

"Elise, he's cute! And he's really into you!"

"I'm not sure I'm into him though!"

"Oh, give him a chance!" She playfully grabbed my arm. "What do you think Allison? Even you think he's cute."

"I think she should do what she thinks is best. If you like him Elise, go for it." She didn't look away from the dishes, but I knew her face would suggest otherwise.

"I'll pass. He's really not my type."

"Suit yourself. I do agree, I prefer my men... chunkier."

"Oh god Maxine, just make a move already, Chet's never going to get the hint."

"Shush you!" She scoffed at Allison, as the two of us sniggered.

"I'm gonna clear out the last of the kids, you shout if you need help washing up."

"It's ok, I've got Elise."

"See you guys bright and early!"

"Night Max!" We both called after her, as she hurried the last of the kids out of the mess hall.

"Here we are again." I said, moving close next to her.

"You meant it didn't you? You're not interested in Eli?"

"Psshh no, of course not! I mean yeah, he's cute, but not as cute as you."

"Are you trying to get into my pants?" She turned so her face was close to mine.

"No, I respect your decision to take it slow."

"So, what was it about me you were thinking about all afternoon?"

"How much you mean to me." I felt my cheeks burning.

"That's very sincere of you Elise. Aww, you're blushing!"

She took her hands out of the water and hugged me around the waist. I leant my head on hers, and she tightened her grip on me.

"It means a lot to me that you are that honest. I know emotions don't come easily to you!"

I nudged her ribs, and she laughed, letting go of me.

"Besides, we've got a free evening ahead of us once we've finished these dishes."

"What do you have in mind?"

"We could go back to my cabin, have a drink, talk... maybe get reacquainted in other ways."

It was amazing how quickly we managed to wash those dishes. Soon there was a stack of clean, shining plates ready for breakfast the next day.

On the way over to her cabin, Allison took my hand in hers, squeezing it.

"I don't think I've been this happy in a long time." She looked up at my face, and then back down to the ground, as if she wasn't expecting a response.

"Me neither." I said, squeezing her hand back.

"You never used to be this comfortable with expressing your feeling Elise, what has come over you?"

"I don't know. I don't feel any need to conceal anything from you. You're not going to judge me."

"No ones going to judge you on your feelings, why would you think that?"

"I always thought it was weak to show how much you cared about someone, and it made me embarrassed."

"But not around me?"

"No, not around you. I feel like I could tell you anything."

We made it to her cabin, and after unlocking the door, she opened it for me. I stepped inside, and instantly noticed on one wall some framed pictures were hung, featuring Allison with childhood friends. I spotted quite a few images of my own face, grinning back at me. One particular picture, in the centre of the display, was myself, Maxine and Allison, arm in arm on the last day of camp when we were eighteen. Allison's hand was clamped onto my shoulder, and our heads rested together. I felt a pang of regret for not staying in touch after that summer.

"Cute pictures." I said, moving closer to them for a better look.

"Some of my favourite memories of camp, in the good old days."

"I look ridiculous in those pigtails."

"You look adorable. Look at Maxine though, she hasn't changed a bit."

"She does still rock a side pony."

I spent a few more minutes studying the pictures. It was strange how familiar they felt to me, like no time had passed at all.

"Come sit down." Allison gestured to the couch, and made her way to the kitchen to pour drinks.

As we sat drinking and talking, we avoided talking anymore about our feelings, and instead focused on talking about the future.

"I'm going to stay in writing, it's what I've always enjoyed. Maybe I'll write for a newspaper, or a column in a magazine, I want nothing to do with teen romance novels again."

"But you're so good at fiction, you should write what you enjoy, not what you think will be popular. Trust me, if you think it's good enough, you'll get it published."

"I don't know. It's hard getting a book published."

"Elise, you are a great writer. Don't waste your talent!"

"You can talk, Jamie Oliver! Since when were you such an excellent cook? And yet you're still here, frying tater tots for a bunch of kids. You could go places!"

"Maybe I don't want to."

"But if you had the opportunity, would you?"

"Elise..." She looked away for a second, taking a deep breath. "I've got a place starting at Chicago culinary school, starting this September. I applied on a whim last year, and after an interview and trial day it turns out, they really like me. They even gave me a scholarship."

I sat there for a moment, without saying anything, trying to understand the emotion displayed on her face.

"Allison, I'm so happy for you! That's so great!"

"I'm not going."

"What?" I couldn't understand the grief in her voice, nor the frown on her face.

"I can't leave this place Elise, it's my home. I can't go to Chicago all by myself, I've never lived in the city before. What if I don't like it?"

"You will, Chicago's great! Besides, you might live near me, if you ever need to see a friendly face."

"I'll never say no to seeing your face." Her frown turned into a smile, and I hit her playfully on the arm.

"You are so cheesy."

"Mmm, I do love cheese."

I shook my head at her, and turned to look again at the pictures on the wall. It was incredible how attached she was to the place, but I couldn't decide whether it was the place itself she loved so much, or the people here she was so attached to. I decided that was enough serious thinking for now.

"Allison?" I turned to her.

"Yeah?"

"Can I kiss you?" She raised her eyebrow at me, and I fluttered my eyelashes, grinning.

"I suppose you can, seen as you asked so very nicely."

I leapt on top of her, pushing her back onto the sofa so I was lying on top of her. Our lips met fiercely, as we wasted no time messing around. Her hands found the back of my head, and she tangled her fingers in my hair. As we deepened the kiss, I could feel her breathing becoming heavy, and she hooked her leg over one of mine.

"Bed?" She asked panting, as our lips broke apart. I nodded, as the two of us nearly fell off the sofa, scrambling to get onto the bed. I got there first, and she grabbed me from behind and turned me round, forcing me backwards onto the bed.

"Lie down." She said, not giving me any options. I lay my head back onto her pillow, and she climbed onto the bed so she was straddling me.

"Lay still." She said, as I wriggled underneath her in excitement.

She lowered herself down on top of me, kissing me briefly before lowering her lips to my neck. I lifted my chin, as she gently kissed my collarbone. She began sucking on the soft skin on the side of my neck, and I felt my heart begin to race. Her hand found my waist, and holding me tightly so I wasn't moving, she began to kiss me up my neck, trailing up my jawline, and as our lips met again, she kissed me so passionately that I thought the air had escaped my lungs.

"Allison..." I muttered in the brief intervals our lips were apart.

"Mmm?"

"Please... More..."

At this point I felt her hand move, as she put it under my shirt, holding my bare waist. Then whilst sitting up briefly, she lifted my shirt up, and dragged it over my head. She leant back down straight away, and started sucking on my neck again. Her mouth moved down to the top of my breast, and her hand reached under me. I arched my back, realising what she wanted to do.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Luckily I heard it, but Allison was so caught up in the moment, it didn't register. I started pushing her off me.

"Allison there's someone at the door!"

"Shit!" She grabbed my shirt, and shoved it at me. I sat up, and barely got it on before Allison ran over and opened the door.

"Max!" She said, with an enthusiastic tone of surprise.

"Hello Allison, can I come in?"

"Of course you can!" She stepped aside, allowing her in.

"Hi Elise, I didn't know you'd be here!"

"Oh, just came around for a few minutes, I was a bit lonely in my cabin."

"You should have said, I was just thinking the same thing."

I got off the bed, and migrated back over to the couch, picking up my gin and tonic whilst trying not to look suspicious in any way.

"So, what have you guys been talking about?"

"Nothing of importance. We were just reliving some old memories." Allison winked at me slightly, standing behind where Maxine was sitting.

"Ooh, my favourite. We had so much fun here when we were younger. It makes me so mad these kids today, with their mobile phones and game devices, they don't even know what's outside their own window!"

"Chill Maxine, you sound like a grandma."

"I tell ya, the way my back's been aching me today, I feel like one!"

We sat talking late into the night, neither myself or Allison minding too much that we were interrupted. It was another opportunity to spend time as the three of us, which felt just as important to me as time alone with Allison did, because the three of us belonged together. As the other two fell asleep on the sofa, I sat up to look across and see Allison curled up around a cushion, breathing slowly. I smiled, watching her for a few moments longer, before sitting back, closing my eyes, and thinking about my two best friends, and the friendship that endured so long, even in my absence.


End file.
